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Tag: diplomacy
Qadhafi never disappoints
Saudi’s King Abdullah walks out of opening session of Arab Summit:
“Doha: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz walked out of the opening session of the Arab Summit in Doha on Monday, following remarks made by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Tempers flared shortly after the summit host Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, ended his opening address, in which he said King Abdullah will represent the Arab nation at Thursday’s G20 economic summit in London.
‘He is in fact the best representative any one could have,’ said Shaikh Hamad. The Arabs should be part of the restructuring of the global financial system, he said. ‘We should not sit on the sidelines watching.’
Following the speech, the Libyan leader took over the microphone without requesting a permission to speak, a Gulf News correspondent inside the meeting hall said.
‘I don’t know why we should be happy that King Abdullah is representing us at the G20. He is a British-made monarch and an American agent,’ Gaddafi said, and went on despite the repeated attempts by Shaikh Hamad to stop him.
Frustrated over the attempts by the Emir of Qatar to stop his from talking, Gaddafi looked at the rest of the Arab leaders and said: ‘I am the King of African Kings, I am the prince of the faithful and I don’t think my international prestige would allow me to sit with people like you.’
The remark and the subsequent apology by the Emir of Qatar led to an angry walkout by King Abdullah, who few years earlier had a similar spat with Gaddafi. “
Bonus pics [Thanks Diana]:
And to think once he was handsome:
Mubarak will not go to Doha Arab summit
Update: Dina Ezzat suggests the Egypt-Qatar rift is about Sudan/Darfur as well as the Palestinians:
The summit, however, is unlikely to escape being the scene of squabbles over managing the reconciliation process between the Darfur leaders and Al-Bashir’s regime. While Qatar is determined to pursue earlier efforts to conclude a comprehensive peace deal on that front other Arab countries — especially Egypt — are determined to deny Doha control over the issue. As a result the summit may not issue a resolution with clear language on the Darfur-Khartoum reconciliation process.
The anticipated Egyptian-Qatari confrontation in Doha next week will not be confined to the management of the Darfur peace process. The diplomatic tug-of-war between the two countries that has continued for 12 months, especially over Palestinian reconciliation, is likely to cast a shadow across the Doha summit. With President Mubarak unlikely — so far — to attend, sending the foreign, or at best, prime minister, Qatar may not be so keen to avoid some squabbling over the text of resolutions to be adopted by the summit on the Palestinian issue. Sources say that Qatar has already suggested to several Arab countries that there is a need to break the “Egyptian monopoly” over Palestinian reconciliation. While this Qatari effort may not succeed — as some Qatari officials acknowledge — it would certainly impact on already tense Egyptian-Qatari relations.
Update II: AP has a write-up saying:
Hosni Mubarak’s decision, which came two days before the summit starts, already throws major doubts on its chances for success as the organization’s foreign ministers pleaded for unity in the face of threats against its members.
Links February 9th to February 11th
Links for February 9th through February 11th:
- Saudi royal Prince Bandar Bin Sultan's assets frozen – BAE lawsuit slowl moving along
- Egypt deserves support to resolve Gaza crisis – Egyptian consul writes op-ed in SF Chronicle
- U.S. pushes Israel to accept proposed Egypt border deal
– " The U.S. wants Israel to show some flexibility on Egypt's demand to add 750 soldiers to its border force, as well as to agree to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's proposal to take over responsibility for the Israel-Gaza Strip border. " - Cindy Sheehan in Cairo to Monitor MB Military Trial – Errr… why?
- The Arab media | How governments handle the news – The Economist on the strangulation of Arab media
- Cindy Sheehan in Cairo to Monitor MB Military Trial – Errr… why?
- The Arab media | How governments handle the news – The Economist on the strangulation of Arab media
Links February 6th to February 7th
Automatically posted links for February 6th through February 7th:
- Moroccan Held for Alleged Royal ID Theft – Moulay Rachid’s identity stolen on Facebook
- Nominee Backs Human Rights in Egypt – Margaret Scobey, future US Ambassador to Cairo, promises to fight for rights, Nour but discount aid pressure
- US admiral confirms secret camp at Gitmo – On secret facility of al-Qaeda suspects (so what does that make the others exactly?)
- Arab state power is on the defensive – Rami Khouri on decentralization and governance
- Be Riberar – Funny column by Magdy Gallad about schizo government
- Project on Defense Alternatives Infogate – PDA, a centrist security policy think tank, has revamped info, document and bookmark collection
- World Leaders Gather To Roast Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | The Onion – “Musharraf went on to update the group on the status of Ahmadinejad’s mouth, opening the floor to debate on whether or not it has sheltered a greater number of fundamentalist Muslim dicks than the Sudan.”
- Qatar focuses on its currency policy – Doha may drop dollar peg
Links January 20th and January 21st
Automatically posted links for January 20th through January 21st:
- al-Qaida Solicits Questions Online – Questions include “why haven’t you opened a new front in Egypt” and more depressing idiocy
- Measuring liberty | When freedom stumbles | Economist.com – Look at the charts: in 1982 Egypt was “partly free,” now it is “not free”
- Economics focus | Selling sex | Economist.com – Interesting article on the economics of prostitution
- HAMAS ASKS EGYPT TO REOPEN RAFAH BORDER – Hamas puts Cairo on the spot
- Translating the Party of God into English – Quilty reviews Hizbullah in translation
- Review: Loaded Dice by Neill Lochery – Debunking of idea that UK Foreign Office is pro-Arab or anti-Israel
- The rise and decline of London as a pan-Arab media hub – Media critic Najm Jarrah
- An Israeli Law for Censorship of Web Comments – Elijah points to a bill in the Knesset that would enable libel laws for web comments
- Why does Johnny come marching homeless? – How Iraq veterans with psychological problems end up homeless
- Those troublesome engineers « Kafr al-Hanadwa – SP has a good post on why engineers are over-represented in Islamist groups
Del.icio.us links for November 19th
- Una persecucion escandalosa – Spanish intellectuals speak out for Algerian dissident placed under arrest
- Am I to blame for his private war? | The Observer – A photographer and a soldier’s story from Iraq
- Mideast Conference Nears, With Few Plans – washingtonpost.com – No one has any idea of what’s going on with Annapolis
- Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them – Love that headline
- “Viva la Revolucion” in Riyadh — for 24 hours – Chavez in Saudi Arabia, invokes Christ, social justice. Wrong audience?